No battle over mission to Ukraine

Your article on the European Parliament’s election-monitoring delegation to Ukraine does not correspond to the facts (“A (centre) right mess”, 4-10 October).

I have not at any stage withdrawn from the electoral observation mission in Ukraine. Nor was I nominated, either by myself or by others, to lead the mission. As chairman of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DSECG), I tried to reach a compromise on the set-up of the delegation. It was possible to achieve such a compromise after lengthy discussions. In these negotiations, it was agreed, as I proposed, that the delegation would be headed by four members: Pawel Kowal (European Conservatives and Reformists) as chairman, and Michael Gahler (European People’s Party), Rebecca Harms (Greens) and Juan Fernando López Aguilar (Socialists & Democrats) as vice-chairpersons. In addition, it was agreed, as I proposed, that these four members would travel to Ukraine this week (8-10 October) in the framework of a preliminary mission.